I recently got in a discussion with a guy when playing live. Usually if I want to go to the toilet or stretch my legs for a bit or go for a smoke etc, I leave the table after folding a hand UTG, right before the blinds. If I'm away for a while I will try to sit in when I'm the BB again, but most of the time I will be back in just one or two hands.

The rooms I play at will allow you to post the two missing blinds in a position between the button and the SB, but then you won't get the button in the next hand, so you will be in the CO. I never do this, as I just assume that if SB is the worst position then this will be even worse, so I usually sit in at the CO and post the missing blinds there. I will be able to play a wider range from the CO, so my chances to contest the pot that now has an extra pair of blinds will be bigger.

But then this guy told me that this was horrible logic, and that I should try to leave the table when UTG+2 or something, so that I will be back in time for the blinds. His argument was that in these early positions I would have to fold most of the hands anyway, so the loss would be smaller. He claimed that the blinds were positions I absolutely could not afford to miss, referencing Sulsky etc. He did say that he mostly played PLO though, but he was pretty sure that the same would apply to NLH. I was thinking that as the BB and SB are positions where you will have negative bb/100 anyway, it wouldn't matter too much to skip those hands, but now I'm not so sure.

Obviously the best thing is to just wait for the BB again, but in my opinion that just comes off as really nitty when playing live with a lot of recs, I try my best to camouflage that I am there trying to make some money. Basically it's not an option for me unless it's like one or two hands. I only leave the table once or twice in a 8-10 hour session, I think this is something I can afford.

So the question is, is it better to (a) miss the BB, SB and button and post the missing blinds from the CO, or (b) miss UTG, UTG+1 and UTG+2 and be back in time for the blinds? And how often should I complete from the SB/BB when facing raise and say three callers anyway, I guess this must somehow be tied to the same question.

Yeah I don't know what the point of posting the blinds in the SB position other than to buy the button. If they're not letting you do that, you're definitely better off posting in the CO.

I agree with your friend that missing the EP positions is probably the best play, mainly because missing your blinds results in missing your button. As a small aside, if your game is soft and deep, you might be able to win from the blinds.

To answer your last question, it really depends on the raising player, the calling players, their stack sizes, whether you are in the SB or closing the action in the BB, and your skill level.

so you buy the button but you get the co?

where?

I think your pal's right when you consider that you're turning a "live" blind into a "dead" post. The blinds are a bad position to play overall, but they're relatively good AFTER amortizing the loss of the blind bet because you've already got equity in the pot. That's why people are recommended to play so many hands from the blinds. Even though it's usually referred to as "defending your blind," it's really the same thing.

So, on the one hand, you lose the UTG and UTG+1 hands, and on the other you lose the 2 blinds that you could have come into for cheap, plus the button hand.

One more thing: waiting until the next big blind doesn't make you seem like a nit if you don't make a big deal about it. It makes you seem like a guy who wanted to take a long break. If Joe Schmoe gets up from the table to talk to his wife on the phone for 25 minutes, and then sits down as UTG+1 and says he'll wait for the blind, most of us would think nothing of it.

Sit down UTG and tell the dealer you will wait one hand = who knows? could be a whale could be a nit. No one thinks anything of it.


Sit down BTN and tell the dealer you will wait for the blinds and just sit there watching the action = massive freaking nit. every single time.